Hi Anyone know about the New York pre-med/post-bac scene?
Friendly places to apply? Good classes to take? Invaluable shadowing or volunteering experiences?
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I am planning on moving back to New York and want to follow-up on this plan of mine and welcome any of your hints and comments.
If your zip code is correct you are right down the road from me.
My general impressions is Columbia is prestigious but cut throat, difficult and a killer against the ivy leaguers and wanna be ivy leaugers
Hunter would be considered a “best buy” in terms of cost, quality and from a less competitive more supportive atmosphere.
If you are in the outer boroughs, queens college has the classes but no formal post bacc.
If you are near Nassau county, you can consider SUNY Old Westbury which has all the classes, small size, and non competitive
I’m starting NYU pre-med next month - I hear they prepare u extremely well for the Mcat’s, and that the chemistry dept is top notch. I agree w/ previous poster that Columbia is cut throat and I definitely don’t want to be in such a non-supportive environment. I don’t need to tell u NYU is an excellent school w/ a great pre-health advising dept - check it out.
Others have covered Columbia, NYU and Hunter.
CCNY is also an option:
http://www2.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/science/p ps/…
You have to consider location, cost and atmosphere and go from there. Once you narrow down some of what you need, I think people here could help more.
I’m currently a second year student in the postbac premed program at Columbia, and I can say with confidence that I feel strongly supported here, and that I am getting well prepared for a life in medicine.
The classes at Columbia are difficult, yes, but any good science class at this level should be! I have learned through experience that as long as you stay on top of your work and study as much as you can, you will do fine. It is intense, but it’s not at all impossible to get good grades in the postbac program here.
The postbac advisors are great, and really accessible. It’s nice to have someone on your side who knows the program and it’s requirements inside and out, and who works only with nontraditional premed students. It really makes a difference when you want advice (or simply to vent!) and you know that this advisor is well aware of what you are going through.
The information sessions they offer are really helpful. I was deciding between a few schools when I went for my info session and felt certain afterwards that Columbia would be the best choice for me. Check out the website (http://www.gs.columbia.edu/postbac/) too, it’s really informative.
Good luck with your application and decision-making!